Israel at War - What happened on day 27?

Over 130 terrorists have been killed by the IDF during recent ground operations in Gaza, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Thursday.

The IDF also took out terror infrastructure in Gaza and destroyed many weapons caches alongside Hamas operating bases.

"IDF fighters continue to wage fierce battles against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip," the IDF spokesperson said.

The IDF struck Hamas bases using a combination of air, ground and sea forces.

Germany will from Wednesday ban the activities of Hamas, already a designated terrorist organization in the country, as well as the pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, the interior minister announced on Thursday.

"With Hamas, I have today completely banned the activities of a terrorist organization whose aim is to destroy the state of Israel," Nancy Faeser said in a statement.

Samidoun's German wing will also be disbanded, it added. Faeser said the international network works under the guise of a solidarity group for prisoners to spread anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda.

There are 242 hostages in Hamas captivity, according to a Thursday update from the IDF spokesperson.

Former head of Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct in Israel's war against Hamas on Thursday morning saying, "His judgment in the conduct of the war at the moment is flawed and tends towards a blame game and a plan to detach himself from responsibility."

Speaking to 103FM, Malka stated, "If he has the time on the second and third day of the war to deal with whether the commission of inquiry that will be established will be governmental or state, and if he engages in delusional and dangerous tweeting for three hours during the IDF's operation to rescue of Pvt. Ori Megidish  - I see that he is not focused on conducting the fighting. He is focused on survival."

"Not all of [his energy] is focused on combat. If all of it was focused on combat, we would see exactly what we see with the IDF leaders and the Shin Bet, who said that they would return to investigate what happened with courage and integrity, but right now they are solely in the conduct of the war and they also use the word responsibility - a word that has somewhat disappeared in Jerusalem." 

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a rally marking al-Quds Day, (Jerusalem Day) in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon April 14, 2023 (photo credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

What to expect from Nasrallah?

When asked about Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's expected speech on Friday afternoon, Malka stated "I think that we are waiting less for the outcome than whether it will lead to action afterward. We are currently in a focused fight on the southern front, but we see what happened in the last few weeks on the northern border. We are currently trying to avoid opening a front," he noted.

"I think he will try to make every effort not to get involved in a wider operation," Malka said. "You know that we all take calculated risks, but when we make a mistake in a calculated risk it becomes dangerous. I think he will try to do something that will not drag us into opening the front."

Malka was confident, however, that it is not in Iran's interest to allow Hezbollah to declare war on Israel at the current time. "I think that Iran has built these capabilities for Hezbollah for the moment when Iran will need it, and less for paying the price for joining Hamas's operations. My rational considerations and I assume others as well, are that the interest in opening a full front is not high, but never say never."

Since the start of the war against Hamas on October 7, some 46,004 workers in Israel have been laid off or put on unpaid leave, according to data the Labor Ministry published on Thursday.

The majority, approximately 70%, are on unpaid leave.

Additionally, 760,000, or about 18% of the workforce, are not working due to their reserve service in the IDF, living in the Gaza periphery, or staying home with their children.

China's foreign ministry is coordinating with various parties to assist Chinese nationals to leave Gaza as soon as possible, the ministry's spokesperson said on Thursday.

The ministry attaches high importance to the safety of Chinese nationals there, and has been in touch to provide as much help as possible, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said when asked if any evacuation plans are being prepared.

Twenty Australians were among the first group of foreign citizens to leave the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and enter Eygpt via the Rafah border crossing, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Tim Watts said on Thursday.

At least 320 foreign nationals left the Palestinian enclave to cross into Egypt on Wednesday, the first to benefit from a deal mediated by Qatar.

Watts said there were still 65 Australians trapped in Gaza and the government had urged them, using all available communication channels, to move toward the Rafah crossing as soon as possible.

"We are providing all possible support we can, communicating through all available channels," Watts told ABC television. "It is not always perfect. This is a conflict zone."

Japan's foreign minister said on Thursday she would meet Palestinian counterparts during a visit to Israel and Jordan, and would communicate Japan's readiness to provide aid to the Palestinians.

The minister, Yoko Kamikawa, is also set to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen during her two-day trip from Friday, as the crisis in Gaza deepened after Israel conducted a strike on the Jabalia refugee camp and as foreigners, including Japanese nationals, leave.

"I hope to discuss how to respond to the grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza region as well as directly communicate Japan's readiness to continue providing aid," Kamikawa said of her meeting with her Palestinian counterparts.

Palestinians gather at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, November 1, 2023 (Reuters/Fadi Whadi)

She did not specify who she would meet from the Palestinian side.

Japanese nationals evacuated from Gaza

Speaking to reporters before her departure, she acknowledged the Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp and that many civilians had been killed in the attack.

"I understand the Israeli military has said the strike targeted Hamas operatives and relevant infrastructure," she said. She did not comment further.

All 10 Japanese nationals and their eight Palestinian family members wishing to leave Gaza have evacuated to Egypt, Kamikawa said, adding that the evacuees were in good health.

She said Japan would remain in touch with one Japanese national living in Gaza who wished to remain there and did not evacuate.

IDF Lt. (res.) Yuval Zilber, 25, was killed in the ongoing ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF released for publication on Thursday morning.

Zilber, from Ramat Gan, served as a platoon commander in the 7007th infantry battalion in the Jerusalem Brigade.

Some 332 IDF soldiers have been killed since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.